Key Scripture: James 1:2–4 (KJV)

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

Devotional

Trials can make you bitter or make you better—but the difference is what you do with them in God’s presence. James tells us to ‘count it joy’ not because pain is pleasant, but because God is producing something through it.

Strength doesn’t come from avoiding hardship; it comes from meeting God in the middle of it. Trials refine your faith, build endurance, and reveal what’s truly inside.

If this year tested you, it also strengthened you. You learned to pray when you didn’t feel like it, to keep going when you felt tired, and to trust God when you didn’t have answers.

Today, honor the strength God produced. Not the struggle itself—but the grace that sustained you through it.

Scripture Insight

James 1 frames trials as training. God uses testing to develop perseverance and maturity in believers.

Heart Check

Where did you feel stretched this year—and how did God meet you in that stretch?

Practice Today

• Name one trial and write one strength God produced through it.
• Thank God for sustaining you on days you felt weak.
• Ask God for wisdom to carry the lessons forward.
• Pray for someone currently in a trial with specific encouragement.

Reflection: How can you reframe a difficult season as evidence that God is strengthening you?

Prayer: Lord, thank You for sustaining me through trials. I confess where I complained and where I doubted. Strengthen me with endurance, mature my faith, and help me trust You more deeply. Use every hard thing for holy growth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.